by Laura Leigh Fields

Created on: August 10, 2008

Several years ago when I was in my baby making days, a pregnancy due date calculator was a small round cardboard or plastic wheel that doctors used to help calculate your due date. The wheel had all the dates in the year on it. When the doctor spun the wheel around once he set it at your estimated date of conception, he could estimate when your baby would be ready to come into the world to meet and greet you.

Don't get me wrong. It wasn't like playing wheel of fortune or anything. I didn't bet on seven and let it ride. I had to give my doctor accurate information about the last date of my period in order for it to really hit the nail on the head. The wheel would take my information and go back approximately seven to ten days from my last period and I would get a general idea of when the baby was due. Of course, every month when I went back for my check-ups and the doctor would pull out the wheel and make sure I was measuring right and everything was up to date.

Based on my experiences, the little wheel was pretty accurate. With all pregnancies, there is a two-week window period. You could go into labor at 38 weeks or 42 weeks. I was never real good at keeping accurate records so; I sometimes fell on the early or late end. For the most part, that circle knew what it was talking about.

Now days, folks don't have to wait to go to the doctor and play the magic wheel game. All you have to do is get online surf the Internet. There are many websites that offer free due date calculators. They work the same way as the one my doctor had, they're just more technologically advanced than the ones from the past.

Anyone can get online and determine when they are going to have a baby. I checked this information myself several months ago I played with an online calculator to determine my due date. According to the calculator, I should have delivered about a week ago. In this case, the calculator was very inaccurate. My reason for claiming this is I am not pregnant. In fact, I had a hysterectomy several years ago.

My point is a machine or a piece of paper can only be as accurate as the information you give them. Women who are in the childbearing age and are sexually active should keep truthful records concerning the first and last day of their period, how long it lasts, dates that they had intercourse and any other information that could help determine their baby's potential birthday in case a pregnancy occurs.

Besides blatant lies, (like the ones I used when I played with the pregnancy calculator online) there are other things that could cause miscalculation. If you spot or have periods that are not regular, this may make things harder to read.

Your doctor can determine half of the truth about your baby's conception and due date based on what you say. There are routine tests that pregnant women take that deal with blood, urine, and even a sonogram of the baby that will better help determine a general idea of when the baby should be arriving.

When it comes down to it, though, nobody can really tell you when your baby will be here but your baby. As far as estimates go, if you provide correct information, the calculator is as close as it gets. Anyone who has ever been pregnant, will agree when I say the only sure-fire way you will know when your baby is going to be here is when you feel the head crown and a pain that can only be described as ungodly. Just think about it, if the birthing experience didn't require work, would they really call it "labor"?

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